"Agriculture Dept. To Invest $300 Million To Measure Greenhouse Emissions"

"The agency is seeking to better monitor greenhouse gases released through farming, which is responsible for about 10 percent of national emissions."

"The Agriculture Department said on Wednesday that it would establish a monitoring and data collection network to measure greenhouse gas emissions and determine how much carbon can be captured using certain farming practices.

The network, using $300 million in funding from the Inflation Reduction Act, will help quantify the outcomes of so-called climate-smart or regenerative agricultural practices, a cornerstone of the department’s approach to addressing a warming planet. The research and data that is collected will also be crucial to measuring progress on President Biden’s goal of halving greenhouse emissions by the end of the decade.

“It’s not just simply about promoting climate-smart agriculture, not simply about promoting proper science,” Tom Vilsack, the agriculture secretary, said in a news conference on Tuesday ahead of the announcement. “It’s also about expanding income sources for small and mid-size producers.”"

Linda Qiu reports for the New York Times July 12, 2023.

Source: NYTimes, 07/13/2023